Nursing professionals provide a healthy community while also ensuring a healthy future for themselves. Well-educated, skilled and caring nurses will always be in high demand and the Nursing program at Palm Beach Community College helps fill that demand.
The College offers training at many levels of patient care. With classes offered at the Lake Worth and Belle Glade campuses, the program is adaptable to each individuals career goals and easily accessible. A certificate program as a patient care assistant serves as an entry point into the field. There are three steps in this program. The nursing assistant course is a 75-hour combination of classroom and clinical instruction that prepares the student to work in a skilled nursing facility. Certification as a home health aide requires another 50 hours, which can be completed in about eight days. Another option on the career ladder beyond the nursing assistant and home health aide is patient care assistant certification. This is a 75-hour certificate course that provides the clinical experience needed to work in an acute care setting, such as a hospital. This certification is required by many hospitals. Practical nurses are always in demand in settings such as hospitals, long-term care facilities, home health agencies and physicians offices. Certification in practical nursing can be earned at PBCC after successfully completing 1,350 clinical and theory hours of study at the College. PBCC also offers an LPN to registered nurse transition program. At PBCC, training as a registered nurse combines traditional nursing strategies with holistic methods such as yoga, music therapy and aromatherapy. Completion of the two-year course earns the student an associate of applied science degree and is approved by the Florida Board of Nursing and accredited by the National League of Nursing Accrediting Commission. Advanced technical training in critical care and perioperative (operating room) nursing is also offered at the College. These courses are designed for the practicing registered nurse who wants to go to the next level. Both courses require the student to complete a minimum of 12 credit hours to earn the advanced technical certificate. With the availability of financial aid and numerous local scholarships, financing a nursing education should not be painful. The College offers at least six scholarships as well as numerous others through the PBCC Foundation. There is also an HCA Scholarship offered through a partnership with JFK Medical Center. “HCAs community hospitals partnering with the community college, its a perfect fit. This scholarship can help local students get excellent training to fill the critical nursing shortage right here in our own community. Then they can work at one of the local hospitals, where they can be mentored and, hopefully advance up the clinical ladder and give back to their community,” said Charlene Ingwell, program director for Workforce and Organizational Development, HCA East Florida Division.
